Lay Down Your Armor
by Emily-Opensky
Summary: Ever since Debbie saw Steve, the love of her life, die in front of her she promised herself she'd never love again. She never expected to find love in a reckless girl named Daisy. Bank heist, shoplifting, and gang fights are nothing new for a criminal like her, but when Daisy's life is hanging in the balance it becomes a fight for survival. Original Characters.
1. Beauty and the Tragedy

Debbie flipped each light switch exactly six times. Checked the lock on the door six times, and even plugged and unplugged all the electronics six times. Nothing helped her calm down, her heart was still beating a million beats a second. The thought of Daisy's bloody mangled body lying on the floor of the convenience store jumped in and out of her mind like an uninvited guest.

_Why didn't__I make her stay? Why didn't I go with her?_ _Is she dead? Arrested? Why isn't she back yet?_ she thought over and over, pacing the apartment. Debbie decided to go through her rituals once again, starting in Daisy's room. Her thin pale fingers grasped the light switch like she was holding onto the side of a cliff for dear life.

On. Off. One. On. Off. Two. On. Off. Three

"Can you cut that out?" a male voice broke in from somewhere in the room. Debbie turned around, startled. Daisy's sixteen year old brother Dominic was reclining on Daisy's bed reading a book with the front cover torn off. They looked so alike, that for a moment Debbie felt comfort in his presence. They both had the same greasy black hair and pale skin, the only major difference being that Dominic was six feet tall, and Daisy was maybe 5'2" with heels on.

"You scared the shit out of me Dom." Debbie laughed uncomfortably. She removed her hand from the light switch and placed it over her heart. It was still beating far too fast. She returned back to the light switch to finish what she started.

"She's going to come back. She always does." Dominic said pulling himself off the bed over to where Debbie stood. "Plus she's with Tyler."

"HA." Debbie yelled the moment she heard Tyler's name. "Tyler would sell Daisy out for a carton of cigarettes and you know it." Debbie had flipped the switch off for the fourth time, when Dominic pulled her hand off the wall, grasping it in his own.

"I told you to cut it out. Doing your stupid rituals aren't going to bring Daisy back any quicker. Just relax."

"I have to do it two more times."

"No you don't.

"Dom please—" The front door opened, Debbie heard Daisy and Tyler laughing and her rapidly beating heart seemed to stop momentarily. _Oh thank God _she thought to herself following Dominic out of Daisy's bedroom after flipping the light switch on and off two more times.

Daisy and Tyler were drenched in sweat. Daisy's dark black eye makeup was smeared so heavily under her eyes she looked like a raccoon. Tyler's hands were cut up and bloody. They both flung their backpacks off their shoulders and onto the kitchen counter.

"What'd ya get?" Dominic asked as he watched Tyler unzip his backpack, letting candy bars, ramen noodles, chips and other quick meals flow from the bag. That was a usual take for them, considering not one of the four had "real jobs" and none of them knew how to cook.

"I got all the good stuff" Tyler laughed pulling a candy bar from his backpack and tossing it across the room to Dominic who tore into it like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

Debbie leaned up against the fridge, staring at Daisy. "So that's what took y'all four hours? To shoplift some junk food." Debbie could feel Tyler glaring at her, but she refused to look his way. She had never liked Tyler from the first day she met him. Daisy brought him to their apartment so she could get ready for a date, and the minute Daisy was out of the room he tried to kiss her.

He didn't treat her right. He was always forcing her to come down to the pool hall in some skimpy outfit to distract the guys while he hustled and gambled away all the money Daisy got her hands on over the week. Sometimes he'd even smack her when he got drunk enough. But he told Daisy he loved her, and that was all Daisy ever wanted.

"Wait 'til you see what I got Deb." Daisy cheered spilling her bag onto the counter. Countless bills fell out of the backpack and onto the counter. Debbie watched a one hundred dollar bill float down slowly, and land gently upon her foot.

"How much is that?" Dominic gasped running over and grabbing a handful of bills from the counter.

"Five THOUSAND dollars." Daisy squealed jumping up and down. Tyler slid over to her wrapping his dark arm around her slim waist, pulling her into his side. Daisy pulled his face down to her own, giving him a long kiss.

Debbie walked out of the kitchen in disgust and sat down on their old ratty loveseat in the small living room.

"How could you possibly get this much from a convenience store, don't they usually not have any more than fifty dollars in the register?" Debbie asked without looking, hoping the question would pull the two lovers apart from each other.

Daisy pulled away from Tyler and smiled thinking about how diabolical and perfect her hold up went. "Well we were just planning on shoplifting to get some groceries." Daisy began as she walked over to her best friend Debbie and plopped down next to her. "We were just going to do the usual: have Tyler fill his backpack, while I flirted with that sleazy middle aged cashier and asked for his opinion on what cigarettes would look the sexiest dangling from my lips." Daisy stopped momentarily laughing too hard to continue. Debbie couldn't help but giggle along with her.

"But here's the thing-" Daisy declared dramatically. "-when we walked up I noticed the armored truck pulled up around the back. Apparently there's mega bucks in the power ball tonight, so everyone and their cousin came in to buy a lotto ticket. The safe was jam packed full of money, so the bank guy was there to take their deposits. Tyler and I threw on some masks, I pulled out my revolver and… well it was almost too easy. Of course they didn't want to get shot so they gave all the money to me. Then we ran. Tyler had to pull up the gate so we could slip in the back of the building. That's why his hands are all bloody, but other than that not a scratch on us!"

Debbie stood up as Daisy finished her story. Her mind was moving a mile a minute and her mouth was twitching at the opportunity to ask Daisy a million questions. _Did anyone see you? Did anyone follow you? Where were the cops?_

Finally Debbie just murmured out the question that was eating at her the most. The question that baffled her from the moment Daisy came in with such a risky and unplanned score "Why?"


	2. Love Me Like You Do

A scream erupted from the alley. Debbie took off in a run. Down the endless staircase. She ran and ran and ran but more stairs appeared below her. The scream grew louder, echoing in the stairwell and making her head ache. The door finally appeared in front of her. Blood was flowing beneath the entrance like a river. More blood than she'd ever seen before. She pushed the door open, and heard a gunshot. Debbie tried to scream but she had no voice. She tried to run but her feet had turned to lead. The body stared at her with glassy eyes.

Debbie's body jolted up. Her heart was pounding, sweat dripping down her back making her oversized shirt cling lifelessly to her thin frame.

She was having a nightmare again. The same nightmare she hadn't had in weeks, the nightmare she thought may have finally been gone for good, came back with more intensity than it had ever had before.

"Are you okay?" Daisy's voice whispered.

Debbie looked over her bed, to see Daisy sitting criss-cross on the floor smoking a cigarette. Smoke swirled up in the dark room and curled around Debbie's face. "Why are you in here?"

"I couldn't sleep. Tyler said I was making too much noise so I just came in here cause I know I couldn't wake you up with a gunshot."

Debbie cringed at the word gunshot, her dream still fresh in her mind.

Daisy put her cigarette out on a dinner plate noticing Debbie's discomfort. She pulled herself up into Debbie's bed, making herself at home under the covers.

"Are you having nightmares again?"

"No." Debbie tried to reply sternly. However her voice stuttered from the fear she was still encountering. Daisy grabbed Debbie's hand and tried to look her in the eyes. Debbie quickly turned her face to look out the door into the living room, pulling her hand from Daisy's firm grasp.

"I've been having nightmares too." Daisy confessed. "You know why I moved down here don't you?"

"Yeah, because of the gang violence." Daisy let out a deep breath that Debbie could feel brush through her long red hair.

"Yeah, I mean it was gang violence I guess. I just... never really told you the whole story..."

Debbie turned to look at Daisy finally as her voice trailed off. Daisy had pulled her knees up right under her nose, tiny streams of tear drops rolled down her cheeks and stained her red plaid sleep pants.

Debbie suddenly felt angry, like she wanted to punch her wall, break a window, or fight a stranger. She had never seen Daisy cry before, and she knew it was something she'd never want to see again.

"Hey Daze what's your problem? Don't cry."

"I almost got Dominic killed." Daisy burst out. Tears were pouring from her eyes at this point. Her face was dark red, her eyes were blood shot, and her upper lip was quivering. "The police caught me dealing. They told me they'd let me off if I ratted on the leader." Daisy punched the pillow twice. "What was I supposed to do Deb? If I went to jail who'd take care of Dominic? I'm his only family!"

Debbie pulled herself onto her knees, placing her right hand under Daisy's chin to forcing them to look into each other's eyes.

"Daisy it doesn't matter, you're here now. You're safe."

"But we're not." Daisy yelled as she jumped out of bed. "They found us. I shouldn't have fucked with them. I didn't know they were going to..."

Daisy wiped the tears from her eyes, attempting to calm herself down.

"That's why I needed the money. They want seven hundred thousand dollars by next month, or they're going to kill Dominic and take me back up North."

Debbie felt her throat go dry. She thought of what they'd make Daisy do if her old gang got a hold of her, and it made her feel sick. The images wouldn't leave her mind, and she felt the urge to check the front door lock.

"Hey come on let's get out of here." Debbie said finally pulling herself out of bed and yanking on a pair of black leggings.

"It's almost 3am." Daisy giggled lightly under her breath.

"Oh come on Daisy!" Debbie groaned, grabbing Daisy's wrist and pulling her into the living room.

"Where are we going to go at 3am in our pajamas?" Daisy asked, trying to contain her laughter as to not wake her younger brother sleeping on the couch.

Debbie opened up the cabinets and began pulling out all the dishes, ignoring every one of Daisy's questions. She walked out the door, down the stairwell and into the alley that connected their apartment building to another. Daisy followed closely behind.

"Think of your old gang showing up." Debbie told Daisy hanging her a plate. "Then throw this at the wall as hard as you can."

"Why?" Daisy asked, her body shivering slightly from the cold damp air.

"Just do it!" Debbie cheered as she forced the plate in her hands.

Daisy sighed deeply then turned to stare down the wall. She flipped the plate in her hand, over and over. Then she thought of Dominic. She thought of her old gang beating him to death. She heard him screaming and begging for her help. The she chucked the glass plate against the brick wall. As it shattered, her fear shattered with it, and in its place came a rage. A fire she had never had before. She wouldn't let anything happen to Dominic.

She grabbed the other plates from Debbie's arms and hurled them quickly one at a time toward the wall, until only one plate remained.

Daisy pulled Debbie into an embrace. "Thank you" she panted, her heart beating so fast Debbie could feel it against her own chest. "For everything."

Debbie smiled, hugging the shorter girl as tight as possible. The last plate was still in Daisy's left hand when she pulled away. She flipped it over once, than handed it to Debbie.

"Here. It's your turn. This one's for all your nightmares."

Debbie carefully took the plate from Daisy's hands, treating it like a bomb that could go off at any moment. She stared at it. Thinking of her nightmares. Thinking about the lifeless body lying in the alley by her old home. Steve. The person she used to love most in the world. The person she couldn't save.

But as she hurled the plate at the brick wall that sprawled in front of she only had one thought on her mind. Daisy. Debbie didn't even watch the plate as it shattered into a million pieces, she watched as Daisy smiled and clapped and jumped up and down excitedly.

"I'm never going to let anything happen to you Daisy. I promise."


	3. This is Gospel

Icy cold air filled Tyler's ancient beaten down truck. Smoke from Daisy's cigarette swirled up toward the roof to crawl out of the cracked car window and meld with the blue-black sky. Her body shivered when she threw the butt of her cigarette out the window.

"I know for a fact they're out of town." Tyler began leaning over to place his hand on Daisy's thigh. "I've been watching them for a week, I saw them putting their luggage and shit in their Mercedes."

She stared down at her feet ignoring Tyler's touch. Her stomach churned and sank every time she thought of what they were about to do. She'd held up stores before, shoplifted, dealt drugs, but had never broken into a home. Of all the things she's done, it felt wrong to her. She wouldn't just be hurting big companies or druggies, she'd be invading one of the most personal and comforting things someone had.

"No one's going to catch us." Tyler promised, completely misunderstanding Daisy's fear. He grabbed the side of her face, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head. Taking a deep shaky breath, Daisy looked into his eyes finally.

"I'm just not sure about this Ty. I think we should just leave."

Tyler's expression turned cold. He turned to look out the front windshield, biting his cheek. Daisy instantly regretted her words. The icy cold air seemed to get colder, and the inky black sky seemed to darken.

Her easily angered boyfriend slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

"So you're telling me all my work was for nothing?" Tyler yelled.

"No I…"

"I'm doing this for you! You know who I had to go to that would buy stolen goods?"

"I'm sorry."

Tyler grabbed the back of Daisy's black hair, twisting her head to look at him. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, from the pain and the fear she felt.

"I try to help you and you do this to me. Why do you always want to hurt me? Do you want to get me killed?"

"No!" she finally yelled out. Tyler threw her away from him, her cheekbone and temple hitting the door hard.

Grabbing his backpack Tyler opened the door and flung himself from the car. He began storming toward the house without saying a word. Daisy took a deep breath. She knew if she stayed Tyler would be even angrier than before. Her face was already throbbing and she didn't think she could take the beating he would have for her when he came back. She opened her door slowly and followed him onto the back porch of the home where he began picking the lock.

Daisy crossed her fingers, foolishly wishing that Tyler wouldn't be able to pick the lock for the first time in his whole life. The door clicked, they were in.

The home was large and beautiful. High ceilings, white furniture, rich brown wooden floors, and everywhere she looked she saw lush green plants. Warm air wrapped around her shivering body like a fluffy blanket, melting away her nervousness if only for a moment.

It had to be nicest home Daisy had ever been in. Her eyes surveyed the rooms in amazement, then, she caught sight of a long dining table with a short stack of bills. Her mind snapped back to the plan. Get in, get out. She grabbed the money and shoved it into her pocket.

"I'll start upstairs." Daisy's voice was barely able to squeak out. She gently and quietly pulled herself up each step as if she was avoiding bombs that may be hidden beneath the shiny hard wood. The master bedroom was situated directly across from the stairwell. The established criminal knew that had to be her first stop.

Her cheap black leather boot stepped gently upon a fluffy white rug leaving behind a muddy footprint as she slowly creeped into the master bedroom. A canopy bed sat right in middle of the luxurious room and upon it's pillowy comforter carefully lie a silk nightgown with the price tag still sown in. Daisy rubbed the silk sleeve over in her hand imagining what a piece of clothing that expensive would feel like against her skin. She moved on to inspect the wooden jewelry box that had been watching her from the corner of the room calling out for her to come explore what it held inside.

She cautiously ran her fingers across the boxes corners and read what was engraved into a small medal plate secured to the top: _For My Loving Wife_. Daisy scoffed under her breath imaging what it must be like to receive such extravagant presents. Her fingers slipped under the lid, lifting it to expose what beauties it held inside.

The box was filled with pearl necklaces, gold bracelets, and diamond earrings among other small treasures. Daisy's heart pounded with excitement as she quickly emptied the contents of the box into her backpack and moved on to the walk in closet.

Her imagination began to soar. She imagined what the woman who wore these jewels must look like covered head to toe in sparkling accessories. She dreamed of what it would be like to own a house this size, to wear a silk nightgown, have Tyler buy her extravagant gifts, or to even own a single gold necklace. She wouldn't have to worry about Dominic being able to afford college so he wouldn't end up a criminal like her. She wouldn't have to rob stores just to feed herself, or sell drugs to pay her rent. Life would be easy.

Daisy stepped on top of a stool in the closet pulling boxes of shoes off a shelf and dumping them onto the floor. Suddenly, her gleeful imagination turned to anger. She was angry that her mother died. Angry that her father left her on the street when she was only 15 with her 11 year old brother. Angry that this family owned 100 pairs of shoes when she couldn't even afford to buy clothes that fit her. She had begun pulling the boxes violently off the shelve, flinging them into the floor below her.

_Why is my life this way?_

A pair of heels hit the floor,

_Why don't I ever get a break?_

Two boxes of men's oxfords flew off the shelf and landed with a bang.

_This isn't fair!_

A shoe box hit the floor silently, green paper bills hit the floor, spilling from the box and mixing with the shoes. Daisy jumped down from the stool finding what she had hoped she might find. A secret box of money. An "emergency fund" some families called it. She began scoping the bills into her backpack without bothering to count it.

Bare feet appeared in the doorway. Daisy's heavy breathing stopped as her eyes slowly drifted up the body until she was looking directly into the teenage boys eyes.

She could tell even kneeling on the floor that the boy was much larger than her. He had long legs, broad shoulders, and a protruding gut. His meaty hands were grasping around a shiny medal baseball bat.

"W-who are you?" the boy stuttered. Daisy could see now in the low glow of the fluorescent light that the boy was shaking. She slowly began to stand her hands stretched out, not fearing that the boy would actually use the bat against her.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. Let's just put this down okay?" She softly suggested inching toward the bat.

"Don't come any closer! Wh-who are you!"

Daisy stopped moving and stared directly into the teenager's eyes. He couldn't have been any more than 15 years old, a bit younger than Dominic. His parents had probably decided he was finally old enough to stay home alone while they went out on some type of trip. She looked down at his shaking hands holding the baseball bat. He was terrified.

_What if this was Dominic?_ She couldn't help but think. She wanted to grab the boy and hug him. Apologize for scaring him and put back everything she stole.

"I'm calling the cops." he finally said, more stern than before.

A loud clicking noise came from behind the teen, causing the boy to whip around.

"Yeah kid you need to put that thing down." Tyler was standing an arms length away pointing his revolver at the shocked kids head.

The kid muttered under his breath begging Tyler not to shoot him as he laid the bat on the floor. Daisy rushed from the closet to stand in between the two. She feared what Tyler might do to him.

"Thank you T. Let's go." His girlfriend dared to say placing her hand on the barrel of his gun. Tyler ignored her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her behind him.

"Turn around buddy." He said shaking his gun with one hand and holding Daisy back with the other.

"Please don't hurt me!" the boy begged as tears formed in his eyes.

"You don't have to do this. Let's just leave!" Daisy yelled grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around to face him. Tyler's dark brown eyes started lifelessly back at her. He was emotionless, as if he wasn't just about to murder someone's child.

"He saw our faces D. As soon as we walk out of here he's just going to rat on us to the cops."

"I won't! I swear! Please just let me go and I'll go back to bed and pretend I slept through the whole thing." The boy bellowed. Tears and snot were streaming down his face at this point. Just by looking at him you could tell he thought he wouldn't be making it out of the walk in closet. "I'll say I saw you and describe someone who looks nothing like either of you. I'll send them on a goose chase just-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Tyler yelled spinning around to place the barrel of his gun to the boy's temple and pushing him to his knees. His dead eyes stared at the boy who was shaking so severely he was moments from collapsing.

"Leave him alone! He's just a kid!" Daisy screamed.

"I could shoot you right now and feel absolutely nothing." Tyler snapped, digging the barrel into the boy's sensitive skin. "Why should I let you live? Your life means nothing to me."

Daisy began to cry. She knew Tyler was a loose cannon, and she knew Tyler had killed people in the past, but seeing him willing to steal someone's life right in front of her was horrifying. There was nothing she could do but beg.

"Please T-" she began, careful not to say his name and give Tyler yet another reason to end the witness's life. "Please just let him go. He's only a teenager. He's almost my brother's age. I- I couldn't live with myself if he died."

Tyler stared at the boy for what seemed like hours not a single one of them moving a muscle. Then, he pulled the gun away from the teen's head and shoved it in the waist of his jeans. "I'm going to give you a chance, cause I'm such a nice guy. But look, I promise you they won't find us if you rat us out, but I'll find you. I won't hesitate to blow your brains out if we cross paths again."

"Yes. I promise." he whimpered. Tyler grabbed the back of the teen's shirt, pulled him out of the closet, and dragged him into his own room. Throwing him on the bed he reminded him, "I know where you live", then slammed the door.

As the duo headed their way back down the stairs on their way out the door, Daisy pulled from her pocket the small stack of bills she had taken off the table when she first arrived. Realizing it may be the only thing she could do, she left it back in its place with a note she quickly scrawled on one of the bills: I'm sorry.


End file.
